Kawhi Leonard wins DPOY

[Trollsmasher]

Lebron should have won in 2011-12. He didn't have a very strong case in 2012-13. He was terrific in 2010-11,2011-12.

Yeah, '12 was probably his best year. 4th defense in the league with Bosh as a sole "rim protector"

In '13 they got worse defensively, but just kept steamrolling everyone with their offense

[Rose'sACL]

If that is the case then Anthony Davis or Rudy Gobert should have won it this year.... no way in hell is Kawhi that good & impactful defensively....

Lol@ Anthony Davis. I can agree with gobert though. Anthony Davis is not that special on defense. Don't let the blocks fool you.

[Giaodollo]

It was wide open this year...

1. Kawhi Leonard
2. Draymond Green
3. DeAndre Jordan
4. Anthony Davis
5. Rudy Gobert
6. Andrew Bogut

I could have lived with just about anyone of those... the fact that Leonard/Green were the top 2 is a good sign.

How good is 2014 Noah, 2013 Gasol, 2012 Chandler in comparison to the top 3? I think they lose out, rather easily. Would have loved to see 'Bron get it in 12-13.

I think both Noah and Gasol would have been defensive player of the year candidates this year, Gasol was also definitely above Davis and Jordan this year, so is Bogut. Bogut is a lot more impactful then Jordan, Jordan gets hype because of his rebounds and monster blocks and sure the CLippers were horrid defensively when he was off the court but that is mostly because of their terrible second unit, they may have one of the worst second units among playoff teams.

And again Clippers were 16th best defensive team this year, if we expect the MVP to be on one of the best team the same should be applied to DPOY.


Same reason why LeBron shouldn't have won 2013, not only because there was a lot of players more impactful then him, I stilldon't understand why he finished so high in the voting, he really didn't have a case, Miami where an average defensive team.

[Hey Yo]

Basketball Reference ‏@bball_ref 1 minute ago
Kawhi Leonard, at 23 years old, is tied for the youngest player to win DPOY:

[Giaodollo]

It's not, otherwise it would say most valuable defensive player.... DPOTY is simply best defensive player, no questions asked like unlike with the MVP.

He is right, there are several players better defensively then Kahwi, Gobert and Davis being two of them. Just like the MVP no team with a sub 5 defensive team wins. Chandler was the last DPOY that didn't have a top 3 defensive team but in his defense Knicks where a bottom defensive team the year before he arrived so he was very valuable.

[ArbitraryWater]

I think both Noah and Gasol would have been defensive player of the year candidates this year, Gasol was also definitely above Davis and Jordan this year, so is Bogut. Bogut is a lot more impactful then Jordan, Jordan gets hype because of his rebounds and monster blocks and sure the CLippers were horrid defensively when he was off the court but that is mostly because of their terrible second unit, they may have one of the worst second units among playoff teams.

And again Clippers were 16th best defensive team this year, if we expect the MVP to be on one of the best team the same should be applied to DPOY.


Same reason why LeBron shouldn't have won 2013, not only because there was a lot of players more impactful then him, I stilldon't understand why he finished so high in the voting, he really didn't have a case, Miami where an average defensive team.

I don't mean top 3 in voting, but the actual top 3, Kawhi/Green/Gobert. I think those are all >. Especially Tyson had pretty mediocre on/off defensive stats.

He is right, there are several players better defensively then Kahwi, Gobert and Davis being two of them. Just like the MVP no team with a sub 5 defensive team wins. Chandler was the last DPOY that didn't have a top 3 defensive team but in his defense Knicks where a bottom defensive team the year before he arrived so he was very valuable.

There are not, though... probably only Gobert.

[Giaodollo]

I don't mean top 3 in voting, but the actual top 3, Kawhi/Green/Gobert. I think those are all >. Especially Tyson had pretty mediocre on/off defensive stats.



There are not, though... probably only Gobert.

Maybe, I like Kahwi but I always prefer the big man defensively, just so much more impact. If you look at NOLA with and without Davis, they just lose everything and that is with another good big man defensively in Asik.

But fact still remains that the DPOY basically has the same criteria as MVP with media. If the team isn't a top 3 ranked defensive team there isn't a very big chance of someone on the team winning. LeBron created a narrative that year and media just hopped on, I remember him saying he deserved it but I don't think anyone thought he really should get it. Still managed to get a lot of votes though.

But generally DPOY is almost the same as MVP but they only look at defensive stats.

[Uncle Drew]

Kawhi led the NBA in defensive rating and steals per game

Draymond is close in defensive stats to Leonard, played in all but 3 games and legit guarded 1 through 5.

[Giaodollo]

I'd say this though, I think Bogut was the best defender this year, but his minute restriction and also missing about the same amount of games as Leonard gives him a slight fall on the list. But if he could play 32-35 minutes consistently I'd take him over just about anyone.

[huskerdu]

Spurs are a .500 team without Kawhi.

GS would be a much better defensive team sans Green than Spurs sans Kawhi.

I understand the reasoning for Green, he's been great, but Kawhi changes the entire complexion of this Spurs team.

[Rake2204]

General Defensive Player of the Year question: Does Ben Wallace still hold the record for the highest percentage of votes when he won in 2002? Was just watching a game from their playoff series against the Raptors that year and saw he earned over 96% of the vote. Have any others topped that since?

Or at least, do you guys have a link off hand that lists the votes year-by-year so I can look?

Edit: Nevermind, I think I found the voting stuff. Wallace received 116 out of a possible 120 votes in 2002. Kevin Garnett had two and Dikembe Mutombo and Kobe Bryant both had one.

For the sake of knowledge, Dwight Howard reeled in 114 out of 120 in 2011. That's the next closest.

[swagga]

Falty logic.. so a certain set of teammates automatically eliminate you from awards? No.

don't get me wrong, green is a legit candidate, but that team is so stacked that he isn't crucial imo.

moreover, the main idea is that green was defending everything PG-PF because GS switch everything. They do this because they have a lot of size and good defenders, green isn't working that much to cover for the defensive mistakes of a parker/gino/bellineli/bonner and he is benefiting a lot from the system. That's the real argument. His on-off stats don't compare to kwahi.

Anyways, this is one of the most horribly awarded things in the NBA so I can't say that I care too much.

[SwishSquared]

I thought Green would win it based on GSW's consistently high-ranked defense throughout the season. Even when Bogut when out, he did keep them afloat, playing C in certain lineups, too. Kawhi is certainly a good choice, but he did miss too many games for my liking honestly. They do have plenty good defenders on that squad, so maybe that worked against him. Or his big mouth turned off voters lol.

I do think that had Kanter been traded earlier (even over the summer), then Gobert would have had a real shot to win it. The jump in defensive efficiency was unreal post trade deadline. Then again, Exum didn't turn it on until later in the season and he was pretty impactful defensively for a rookie guard. I expect the Stifle Tower to be in the mix next season though, especially if they sneak into the playoffs.

Edit: plenty good defenders and big mouth refer to Green

[Random_Guy]

comon guys, green is the better choice imho, but lets not act like leonard didnt have a case.

[ProfessorMurder]

Damn, Whi is killing it.